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If only God was a Pilot, there would be more believers ...

It was my birthday recently and during the weekend, I decided to go away and catch a plane. Walking through the terminal building, you would occasionally see people who is dressed up in uniforms who appear to be pilots. As I boarded my plane, waiting everyone to settle and the plane to take off, I began to think, despite the fact that I see people wandering around the terminal who appear to be pilots, how often do I get to see the actual captain that flies the plane that I am on?

Then a whole raft of questions began floating in my mind:
  • If it is so rare that I get to see a pilot operating my plane, why do I have to believe that in this particular flight, there is someone controlling the plane?
  • Why can't I assume that in such a technology-savvy world, can't this thing be just flying itself?
  • Even if there was someone inside, how am I to know that he (she) is qualified? He may have three stripes over his shoulders, but where is his certification/identification that reveals he is really qualified?
  • (And in the midst of all these questions, we experienced turbulence, and then the seat-belt sign turned on) Why do I have to trust his announcement/sign and belt up for my own good?
But Ivan, they are very easy questions to answer. There has to be a person operating the plane because we are told in books that it needs to be operated by a person. We are revealed in books and documentation that they need to go through a strenuous process before they obtain certification and qualification to become pilots. Therefore we have to trust the pilot because he has all the equipment and the experience that we would not otherwise have to make the call in turning the seat-belt sign on to ensure our safety throughout the flight. All this out of trust in someone that you have a close-to-zero chance of meeting in the ordinary course of air travel.

When it comes to questions of our faith in God, we are often asked:
  • What a wonderful world, but how do I know someone is in control?
  • Since the world is so vibrant, why can't I assume its just running itself?
  • Even if there is some controller (God), how am I to know he really is qualified? He purports to be God, but what are the signs to show who He really is?
  • Why do we have to listen to the ways He suggests us to live our lives and trust that it is for our own good?
Well, these answers, of course to many, are hard to answer. We are told in a book (the Bible), that God is the operator of this world. But people don't believe. It is revealed in the Bible that God has shown himself in human form through Christ Jesus, healing the sick, raising the dead, making the blind see to show he is more than qualified to be the operator. But people don't believe. God knows everything we know, and everything we don't know to know when to make the call in telling us to do certain things to prevent us from getting hurt. We ignore those directions.

So how hard is it to believe in God? Not much more than the faith required to hop on a plane and know that it'll take you from A to B.

Posted by Ivan on Monday, February 18, 2008 at 10:34 pm |

We trust them because there are regulations for them to follow. And they also put it on auto-pilot... so we are actually putting our lives on those machines

Posted by Anonymous Anonymous | 11:19 pm, February 18, 2008  

Many would think controlling a plane in the air nowadays wouldnt be so difficult as all a pilot needs to do is to put it on auto-pilot and he/she can sit back and relax. Perhaps for some of the passengers, they would imagine they could control the plane all by themselves. If you really decide to control a plane without any training, I suggest that the first thing you do is to call your life insurance agent.

In a technology-savvy world, everyone thinks that acquiring knowledge and information is so easy. They think they know everything and they are able to control their life. But the fact is, we are the unqualified pilot who do not have complete knowledge in controlling a plane.

Likewise, we can never have complete knowledge about how to control our life, yet we think we do. People end up hurting themselves as they ignore what God has already warned us. God makes it clear to us how we should live our life, but we do not listen.

Perhaps nobody would really control a plane without any training, but why everyone is controlling their own life when they knew they are an unqualified life controller?

Posted by Blogger Sharon | 11:21 am, February 20, 2008  

Following from previous threads, we do have a certain level of assurity from industry regulations.

Humorously, in relation to planes, we have no other alternative, other than to place our trust on the pilot to steer the aircraft, unless we of course study for a pilot’s license and charter a plane ourselves. And once again we strike the same hurdle of needing to trust in the workmanship and structural engineering of the plane.

Similarly with trains and buses, we continue to place our diminishing faith in getting to work (on time), and during our lunch breaks, for the chefs to cook our food properly.

You see, without fail, everyday men and women, young and old, rely on one another to function properly, it’s the way of a well oiled society, trusting with fellowship. There’s a Chinese proverb that goes: expert doctors can heal many things, but somehow are unable to heal themselves. They too rely on medical practitioners. We all fall sick at some stage, it’s naturally occurring to catch the odd cold or develop cancer.

Our Lord is graciously indiscriminant, good or bad, we have all sinned, and without judgments of which sin is greater, A or B, we all fall short; and require a Redeemer and Saviour.

In the stories of the bible, trust and love often go hand in hand in relationships. Ultimately, out of His gracious Love, and because of His Love, Christ has given us freedom in life, like parents constantly allowing and encouraging children to learn and try.

Because of God’s priceless love and the Gift of His only beloved son to us, that he has given us choice. What is a man’s reasonable response in drawing near to Him………..

Posted by Anonymous Anonymous | 11:04 pm, February 26, 2008  

A point I was trying to illustrate through the pilot is that people nowadays place God under so much scrutiny compared to say a Pilot. We can happily accept that because there is probably some set of regulations that some bloke who is sitting in the foremost position of the plane have to follow, we have to trust that bloke.

We have no idea whether: (1) (s)he was even qualified to sit up there in the first place; (2) whether (s)he is even following those regulations at all; and (3) what sort of flying experience does (s)he have (we have NO idea what his/her track record is at all!)

We trust him because he has put on the uniform, and we believe and trust he is qualified to do what he has held himself out to be capable of what he says he can do.

God has shown us and has a track record of Him promising, and subsequently honouring His promises. He has demonstrated his elligiblity (or even over-qualifications) to be what He says He is, yet people will still often say, prove to me in front of my eyes. That is just as good as asking the pilot to produce his log books showing the mileage that he has clocked all the years he has been a pilot every time a person flies!

NW raised a good point about the fact that ironically, we have no choice but to place our trust on the pilot to get us from A to B. Ironically, life is also like that. Not placing your trust in God to lead your life is like hopping on an airplane, denying the fact that the pilot is in control, and believing you have got from A to B because you behaved and did your own part by sitting tight and fastened your seat belt and didn't make the plane rock ...

Posted by Blogger Ivan | 11:35 pm, February 26, 2008  

The analogy between God and pilot is interesting, it reminds me of the teleological argument advanced by William Paley (I think that was his name).

The argument goes along the lines of "If you come across a watch, there must be a watchmaker because the parts fit and function so well together - a sign of complexity that cannot come about by randomness."

Unfortunately, the argument works on the view that apparent design is evidence of actual design. But, I've digressed because I think you were only trying to illustrate what is definitely a very real spiritual truth ("spiritual" not used to imply that it is somehow less "real" than physical truth - but just different). I was just messin' with ya. :p

Posted by Blogger lightseeker | 12:44 am, March 16, 2008  

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